McCain urges greater pressure on Ukraine, Belarus
VILNIUS, Lithuania — Top Republican US Senator John McCain on Wednesday urged the international community to keep up a wave of pressure on authorities in Ukraine and Belarus for persecuting opposition figures.
Describing recent photos of Ukraine’s jailed ex-premier Yulia Tymoshenko “disturbing, troubling”, McCain said Kyiv could not hope for closer ties with the West before it ends the “selective prosecution of its political opponents and unconditionally pardons opposition leaders.”
“The current government seeks to move the country closer to Europe, at the same time as it pressures and destroys political opposition within Ukraine,” McCain said during a visit to the ex-Soviet Baltic EU state of Lithuania.
“Ultimately, however, it must choose between these two contradictory paths,” he said in a speech at Vilnius University, ahead of Thursday’s international democracy conference.
McCain also said applying “more pressure than ever” has borne fruit in another ex-Soviet country, Belarus, which last month freed opposition figures Andrei Sannikov and Dmitry Bondarenko.
McCain however warned “now it’s not the time to reduce the pressure on (President Alexander) Lukashenko,” often dubbed “Europe’s last dictator” by Western leaders.
“The United States and the EU must continue to strengthen our common front in pressuring Lukashenko to release political prisoners and hold free and fair elections,” he said.
Like Belarus and Ukraine, Lithuania won independence when the Soviet Union crumbled in 1991, but the Baltic state is firmly anchored in the West, having joined the EU and NATO in 2004.
Turning to Russia, McCain noted “the winds of change may be starting to blow in Russia”, pointing to a recent wave anti-Putin protests as Vladimir Putin prepares to return to the Kremlin on May 7.
McCain also questioned democratic rival President Barack Obama’s stand on Syria, insisting the Syrian opposition should be given arms to fight against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.
“The United States has offered non-lethal aid. Well, I am pleased about that. But non-lethal aid, non-lethal things don’t do very well against tanks and artillery,” said the Republican, who lost to Obama in the 2008 US presidential elections.
Copyright © 2012 AFP. All rights reserved.
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